TUCKED away behind the scenes off Worcester's Angel Street is a small-scale mock version of the auditorium of the city's former historic Theatre Royal.

It used to form a Gaiety Bar - a lounge bar at the rear of the Ewe and Lamb pub - and was created, probably in the 1960s.

Fittingly, this drinking place with a theatrical theme was on the opposite side of Angel Street from where the Theatre Royal stood until being closed in 1955. Kwik-Save now occupies the site.

Today, the old Gaiety Bar serves a vastly different role as a storage area for the Lander family's printing works, though all the original wallpapers, mouldings, mirrors and fittings have been retained, including the false circle balcony and the "stage" with its customary red velvet curtains and a large and colourful Edwardian Music Hall scene.

The Ewe and Lamb in Angel Street dated from the 1700s and survived in use as a pub until about 20 years ago. Its frontage is now occupied by a fast food outlet.

The late Bernard Lander, having worked for some years at Philips & Probert in Lowesmoor, set up in business on his own as a printer in 1948, acquiring premises behind the south side of Angel Street. Here, he established his printing works and was joined in the firm by his four sons - Bob, Ken, Eric and Donald.

When the Ewe and Lamb closed, the Landers bought its rear Gaiety Bar and also what had once been a section of the old Oyster Bar run by the late Phil and Rupert Constaninou. These acquisitions enabled the Landers to extend their printing works and create more storage space.

It was very appropriate that part of the former Ewe and Lamb pub should come back into the Lander family because for the first 15 years of the 20th Century it was run by the four Lander boys' maternal grandparents, Thomas and Ellen Lawson. The Lander boys' mother, the late Mrs Hilda Lander was born at the Ewe and Lamb and went to the former St Nicholas Girls' School.

Bob and Ken Lander have now retired from the family printing firm and, alas, Donald died last year. The business is now headed by Eric, though it has moved into a third generation with Ken's son David and Eric's son Richard, who are both involved in the firm.

In retaining the Gaiety Bar fixtures, fittings and dcor, Eric Lander would dearly like to know more about the painting which forms the "stage" scene and is about 10ft by 8ft. Who was the artist and what is its significance and value?

"It's made up of hundreds of tiny pieces of painting paper, rather like a mosaic, and I don't know whether to get it preserved or whether anyone would be interested in acquiring it," says Eric.

If readers can throw more light on the old Gaiety Bar painting, please contact Eric Lander on 01905 22696.